College of St. Benedict freshman and Special Olympics Minnesota athlete, Danielle Liebl, has been named Special Olympics Minnesota’s newest member of the Board of Directors. Liebl will begin serving her term in 2011.

Liebl, 19, has been active with Special Olympics Minnesota since she was 11, including involvement in the Athlete Leadership Program where she trained as a spokesperson and leader for the organization. Liebl competed in the Special Olympics 2006 USA National and was awarded the Minnesota State Council on Disability Youth Award in 2008. She was one of 20 athletes selected to attend the Special Olympics Global Youth Summit in 2009. During her senior year of high school, Liebl educated her peers about acceptance and inclusion by forming a Partners Club® promoting social activity between students with and without intellectual disabilities, and traveled to Minnesota schools as an advocate for change through the “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign. Liebl spoke with Minnesota representatives in Washington, D.C. in January at Special Olympics Capitol Hill Day, was invited to attend a White House celebration in October for the enactment of Rosa’s Law. Liebl interned last summer at Special Olympics International and presented at the 2010 Youth Activation Summit as part of the Special Olympics 2010 USA National Games. Liebl is a member of the Special Olympics Project UNIFY® National Youth Activation Committee and plans to continue her advocacy work as she attends the 2011 Global Youth Summit in Athens, Greece as part of the 2011 World Summer Games.